Harbor Freight wood Lathe 34706

They have the above lathe on sale at the retail stores in this area now for 199.99 and the 47066 lathe chisel set for 36.99.

I would be new to wood turning if I got these.

Would they be suitable for a beginner to see if I would even like woodturning? I know they are not the best and many have a total dislike for Harbor Freight tools. I have found for me many of their tools are just fine, some are useless.

Now if they would come out with a 10%, 20% or bigger coupon this would look even better.

I see people on EBAY selling Harbor Freight coupons. I emailed HF about those and why I did not get them, I am on their email and snail mail lists, and got a mealymouth useless answer as I expected telling me no useful information.

Any comments on any of this is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Add 400 after roy in the email to send me email.

Roy

Reply to
Roy
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Hi, Roy.

I think if I was in a quandry about whether or not I even thought I would like turning, I would do a little background work first. See if your Woodcraft has turning classes and try a good lathe with properly sharpened tools.

They may be able to point you to your local club, and you may get some great experience there as well.

Turning on a lousy lathe with poor (or incorrectly sharpened tools) might just ruin you for woodturning. It is hard to get a good feel for things when you don't have a good idea of what your equipment or tools should actually do for you. And at that price point, you are actually just dollars away from being able to get one of the good mini/ midis on the market now, the same ones that are used by full time turners for smaller projects.

You should also google this group for the numerous discussions on "what lathe should I buy" and "a good used lathe", etc. If I was going to buy a smaller lathe, I would probably buy new. If I was going to replace my larger lathe, I would probably buy used and get a great deal off the retail price.

Just my 0.02.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Thanks nailshooter4, no Woodcraft anywhere near here, I guess I live in the boonies.

I have searched the old messages and the web and have found some good reports on the lathe I mentioned.

There is a woodturning group/club near here I may try to visit although I am somewhat of a loner and self taught on most things I do. Kind of a jack of all trades and master of none.

Roy

Reply to
Roy

Roy,

nailshooter is right about sharp tools and good equipment, but on the other hand what you propose is exactly the way I started turning. Bought $125 Harbor Freight lathe and some tools. As it turned I was fairly adept at turning so after a few months I moved up to better equipment. Sold the HF for $50 and was happy. I like you are somewhat of a loner, live in the boonies with no clubs or Woodcraft stores close by. So I say "go for it"!

L Bledsoe

Reply to
LBledsoe

I've seen several Harbor Freight lathes, and would not recommend any of them.. I'm not an elitist, buy a lot of stuff from HF, but not lathes..

For an introduction to turning, I'd strongly recommend the Jet Mini.. It's inexpensive, quiet, very stable and the best part is that there are SO many of them out there that questions are easily answered..

For $50 more than the HF lathe you're looking at, you can get a new jet mini (1014?) and right now, a few online places are offering the choice of free shipping or a $25 rebate...

If the HF chisels are the one's that are normally about $60, they actually are a good deal and I have a couple sets of them.. As far as I can tell, they're the same as Penn State's "Benjamin's Best" but less expensive..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

I happen to agree with Mac. Rather than buy a $200 lathe that you could sell for $50-75 after you find out you don't like it, why not buy a better quality lathe that has more return and retains its value. Spend the extra $50 for the better lathe and then if you find out turning is not your forte, you lose less when you sell the equipment you bought. Either the Jet or the Rikon have good resell IMO and are about the same price. I live in the boonies, there are no turning clubs around, but I drove 2 hours to Woodcraft in Louisville to investigate turning prior to my investment. Unless money isn't an issue, I'd suggest trying something for free even if it required traveling some distance in order to do so. A low quality lathe could make you hate wood turning where a lathe that is well built could show you just how much fun there is to be had.

Good luck on your search and even loners can learn something new,

JD

Reply to
JD

The Jet is a good lathe, but also take a look at the Rikon for about the same price. The Jet swings 10", the Rikon 12".

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

I have seen the mention of the Harbour Freight Lathes quite a bit so thought I would take a look.

I recognise the 34706

In the UK it is branded as Scheppach, Perform and many others. But there is an important point to note, not all lathes are equal. I have the Axminster 900 which is almost identical, and from a picture most would think they are the same. Big differences are wider bed, and only 5 speed instead of 10

The most important point though is that the 10 speed models tend to be rated at hobby and the 5 speed version at light trade. Maybe that explains the 100% price difference.

They rate Hobby at

Reply to
John

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 17:58:11 GMT, John wrote: Compare the Jet at

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with the HF
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I think they come from the same factory in China although the fit and finish may be different. I am prepared to clean, lube and adjust things I get from HF more so than things from some other places. I had decided to skip the mini and midi lathes but could change my mind.

BTY I have no connection with HF except as a customer.

Thanks for ALL the comments and suggestions!

Roy

Reply to
Roy

In message , Roy writes

The Axminster and Perform variant can be seen here for comparison. Remember they are in GBP which at present is 2$ to 1 GBP so you may be shocked

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ing-Lathe-21283.htm
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-Lathe-21724.htm

I wonder if the lathe is just a budget JET or if it is one they badge to cover the low end market. Saying that I have seen the Axminster 950 badged as a JET, its the next model up from the one above with headstock which slides the length of the bed

One interesting point in the Product Description is

"Designed for use over the long haul, this tool has all the qualities professional woodworkers demand"

Makes me wonder how long they consider long haul to be :)

Reply to
John

I am a beginner too. I bought a set of 47066 tools to start with, knowing that I'de want better ones after I figured out which tools I would use the most. The tools included in the set are best suited to spindle turning. I picked up a bowl gouge to supplement the set. After

6 weeks of turning a few hours a week I am already wanting some more substantial tools. Because of the thickness and width of the tools its taking a little longer to finish items.

I sprung for a Jet 1220 (Sells for around $325) because while I buy a lot of tools at HF, I'm not too keen on their power tools. Of course shortly after I bought my 1220 a Delta 46-700 came up for sale for cheap on Craigslist.

I'm usually a loner-learner but I attended a local AAW chapter meeting and met a bunch of great people. I imagine every hour I spend there saves me 10X as much time in the shop. The VP of the club held a sharpening class that helped me get a decent edge on the tools and that has helped immensely.

-- Dave

Reply to
dmann99

IF they were from the same factory and had the same quality control, I don't think many folks would be buying the Jet for $600..lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

Might be one of those 30/30 warranty things..

30 feet or 30 seconds..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Reply to
mac davis

It doesn't take much to get hooked on turning. I hated it when I was in school in the ' 60 ' s but now I can't stop .I bought a ' 80's Craftsman monotube for $50 and some real crap tools for $9.95 off ebay and reshaped some flat chisels into scrapers. Done some segmented and stump turning so far and had some explosions do to bad glue joints & hidden cracks in blanks ,but it is all good learning !!

check out my web page below and see how I am hooked

Jerry

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Reply to
Jerry - OHIO

Dave,

The Delta 46-700 is crap unless you turn small spindles. The bearing housing is very thin cast iron and prone to cracking and warping.

cm

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Reply to
CM

Roy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Roy

I own a Jet 1236 which I bought used as a first lathe. I have seen the HF lathe in the store near me and it is essentially the same lathe with worse fit and finish. The display lathe in the store has a cracked banjo and I would imagine there is less quality control in the castings. That said I would not overly recommend the Jet 1236 either.

I have used the mini/midi lathes owned by our turning club and the Jet Mini is heads and shoulders above my 1236 in fit and smoothness and much more easy to use than either the Delta or PSI that I have tried.

In summary, I bought used for a good price, but if I was starting again buying new, it would have been the Jet mini. I have not tried the Rikon, however.

Jerry

Reply to
A Lurker

I started with the 34706 lathe and will never regret it. I paid $199 for it, turned on it for a year and a half and sold it for $185 in November to get a larger capacity lathe. It is a good lathe--accurate, powerful enough, variable speed and an excellent starter. I added a shelf to mine with 200 lbs of sand and that made it very stable as well. The tools are also pretty good--I've seen the same starter set for $60-80, and it is worth the $35. Benjamin's Best tools are also very good and inexpensive. You can find them at Penn State Industries.

Woody

Reply to
woodman

the JET lathe is the same as the Harbour Freight lathe not a chinese copy ,but chinese built,same as selling a Suzuki as a Chevy same vehicle ,just badged differently and Chevy charges a couple grand more ,it really amazing someone assumes a lathe is different because it is a different color and different stickers are on it ,companies have been doing this for years and as long as they don't claim it as being made in USA in selling it ,they can keep on doing it legally

Reply to
badaztek

I have long steered away from Jet because they seem to be virtually identical to HF & Grizzle at a much higher price. The BIL has the HF and the castings are identical. The only difference I see is the power switch, nameplate and color. I'm sure they come from the same factory, but does Jet spec a higher QC, better bearings, etc?

I have the HF bandsaw, and just like the lathe, the only difference is in color, namplate and power switch. It's OK for the price, but if I had paid $500 for the Jet and its performance was the same I'd be P.O.d

BTW Does everyone remember when Jet changed colors from blue? HF tools became Jet blue for quite a while...

Reply to
BillB

I have decided to purchase the Harbor Freight 34706 wood lathe and the

47066 set of chisels.

I do think I will wait some time for a sale price and % off coupon to lower the cost to me.

Thanks to all that made comments on my situation. I have learned a lot already and don't even have a lathe yet. I also have lots of websites bookmarked that will get further study.

Happy Turning

Roy

add 400 after roy in my email if anyone has a desire to email me directly.

Reply to
Roy

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